The UK government’s Strategic Defence Review 2025 commits increased investment in defence capability and sets the ambition for a digitally enabled defence ecosystem. With the UK defence sector contributing £15 billion in value to the economy and growing 70% over the past decade, nuclear defence programmes sit at the heart of this industrial expansion, but they face specific operational challenges that require specialist capabilities.

DPRTE – the UK’s flagship defence procurement and supply chain event – brings together over 3,000 stakeholders from government, industry, and the supply chain on 25 – 26 March 2026 at Farnborough International. For organisations working on nuclear defence programmes, it’s an opportunity to connect with decision-makers and explore how digitally enabled defence translates into practice.

The Defence Nuclear Enterprise, the largest engineering project in UK history, spans BAE Barrow, AWE, Rolls-Royce, Babcock, and 3,000 supply chain companies running concurrent programmes including Dreadnought, SSN-AUKUS, and the A21/Mk7 (Astraea) warhead programme. It operates under dual regulatory oversight from the ONR and MoD, where the mission is absolute: continuous at-sea deterrence must run 24/7 with zero-failure tolerance.

Against this backdrop, the operational challenges are compounding. The workforce needs to grow from 47,600 to 65,000 by 2030 while retiring engineers take decades of submarine design, warhead engineering, and reactor expertise with them. Vanguard-class submarines are operating 10 years beyond their original design life.

Digital systems in this environment serve three specific purposes: robust critical infrastructure, preserved engineering expertise, and continuous deterrent readiness.

 

Robust critical infrastructure

Defence nuclear facilities run on operational technology that often predates modern IT infrastructure by decades. These control systems contain operational knowledge built up through years of safe operation. Upgrading them means preserving that intelligence while meeting current cyber-physical security requirements.

We’ve worked with defence nuclear organisations including BAE and AWE for over a decade. We design, implement, and support control and safety systems in nuclear-regulated environments: safety systems, obsolescence upgrades, radiological surveillance, emergency plume gamma monitoring, and specialist control systems for cranes and handling equipment.

Our recent acquisition of Noveum brings front-end engineering design expertise and additional suitably qualified and experienced personnel. The depth of engineering knowledge and experience this brings matters because the Defence Industrial Strategy emphasises UK capability and domestic supply chain resilience – both of which require engineering resource that meets nuclear safety standards.

 

Preserved engineering expertise

When experienced engineers retire, they take operational intelligence with them: understanding of legacy systems, protocols developed over decades, site-specific safety knowledge. That knowledge must transfer to the next generation.

We integrate legacy systems with modern platforms while preserving the operational intelligence within them. We embed decades of engineering expertise into systems that meet dual regulatory requirements and harden against evolving threats.

We’ve worked in nuclear operations – civil and defence – for over 40 years. That experience means we know how to build systems that preserve operational knowledge across the decades-long timescales nuclear defence programmes demand.

Continuous deterrent readiness

Continuous at-sea deterrence is non-negotiable. Systems must operate 24/7 with absolute reliability. That creates specific requirements: redundancy without added complexity, upgrades without operational risk, cyber-physical security that meets both ONR and MoD standards, and integration across multi-site programmes where coordination is already complex.

We build integrated intelligent systems that securely unify operational and digital worlds. That means control systems designed for environments where stability and safety define everything else because in nuclear defence operations, failure isn’t an option.

 

DPRTE 2026

We’re exhibiting at DPRTE on 25 – 26 March 2026. The event focuses on digital transformation and infrastructure challenges that nuclear defence organisations face: upgrading legacy systems while maintaining operational reliability, preserving engineering expertise while meeting evolving security requirements, and coordinating across complex supply chains.

If you’re responsible for programmes that require OT/IT integration in nuclear-regulated environments, let’s speak. 

Contact us to arrange a meeting.